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Installing SketchUp
The first thing you need to work with the EasyKitchen library is the SketchUp program itself. If you have it, then immediately proceed to installing the library. If not, then SketchUp must first be installed on your PC. The minimum version supported by the EasyKitchen PRO library is SketchUp 2017. The library works best in SketchUp 2022 or higher. They significantly increase the speed of operation.
Make sure your computer username is not in Cyrillic. For stable operation of the SketchUp program and plugins, it is required that the PC username be in Latin and not with a small letter u or x (for example, user).
If, however, the PC username is in Cyrillic or contains invalid characters, create a new PC user in Latin and work in it. Simply renaming the current Windows user will not work.
This does not apply only to the demo version of EasyKitchen. It does not have a plugin, so it does not matter whether the username is in Latin or Cyrillic. You can safely download, install and try the demo. For the paid version, the correct username is important!
Installing the demo version
The demo version of the EasyKitchen library consists of only a few modules. It does not have a replacement and report plugin, nor a report processor. So just run the installer and follow its instructions. Then all that's left to do is add the library to SketchUp, following the instructions in the "Adding a library to SketchUp" paragraph in this article.
Automatic library installation
EasyKitchen PRO, starting with version 4.6, has an automatic installer. All you need to do is download and run it. Next - follow the instructions. It will install the library and plugin into the required folders. At the same time, the installer additionally checks the system for compliance with the requirements. If the check fails, the installer will either terminate the installation (fatal error) or issue a warning (non-fatal error) and allow installation to continue.
Read the warnings issued by the installer carefully. After the installation is complete, all you have to do is add the library to SketchUp itself according to the instructions below.
- Be sure to run SketchUp at least once before installing EasyKitchen.
- Before running the installer, it is highly recommended to disable the antivirus. It can fit normal installation.
- We tested the installer using Avast. He didn't find any viruses. Other antiviruses may behave differently.
- Do not install into system folders (Program files for example) or run the installer as an administrator to install into the system folder.
EasyKitchen Activation
After installing the paid version of EasyKitchen, when you launch SketchUp, a small window will appear in which you will need to enter the key. You will find it in your profile on the site.
The key needs to be entered only once, at each workplace, when you first start the program. The key does not need to be entered during subsequent launches.
Please note that an Internet connection is required to check for a licensed version of EasyKitchen.
If the key is required every time SketchUp is launched, here are the solutions that should help:
- Add the plugin to the antivirus exceptions;
- Run SketchUp as an administrator once to save the settings;
- Check the stability of the Internet connection;
- Temporarily disable other plugins to check for conflicts.
Adding a Library to SketchUp
Launch the SketchUp program. On the right side of the program there is a tray window. In it we find the “Components” tab:
Here you need to add the folder with the purchased library. To add it to the “Components” tab, you need to click on the arrow:
A menu will open in which you need to select "Open or create a local collection...".
Now we find the folder with the purchased library on the computer, go into it and click the “Select folder” button. That's it, the collection has been added.
Quite often questions arise with this particular action. The user, out of habit, searches for a file or files in the folder that opens, but the folder is empty. It is not empty, it’s just that in this case you need to add the entire folder, and not individual files.
To pin the library in the SketchUp program, click on the same arrow again and in the drop-down menu click on the “Add to Favorites” item. Now you can always quickly return to the library by clicking on the arrow next to the house icon:
In the drop-down menu, select your library and it will immediately appear in the “Components” tab.
All that remains is to go to the desired folder and get the required module from there.
General view of EasyKitchen library folders:
The EasyKitchen library has been added to SketchUp. If you encounter any errors, the solution can be found in the Troubleshooting article.
Manually install EasyKitchen on Windows
Just in case, the repository contains a regular ZIP archive for manual installation, if for some reason the automatic installer did not work. Also, such an archive will be useful for macOS users, for whom the installer made for Windows will not work.
After you have downloaded the archive with the library, you should unzip it to any convenient folder on your computer and add the library to the SketchUp program, as described above.
The last step is to install the DC Change Mat plugin, which comes with the EasyKitchen PRO library. It is located in the folder of the same name. It is recommended to simply transfer the contents of the DC Change Mat folder to the SketchUp plugins folder, at approximately the following address:
C:/Users/****/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2022/SketchUp/Plugins
Where **** is the username of your PC.
Here's how the transfer should be done:
After installing the plugin, a new set of tools should appear:
If the plugin tools do not appear or you experience any other errors, the solution can be found in the Troubleshooting article.
Manually install EasyKitchen on macOS
The library and plugin are installed on macOS only manually. There is no installer for this system. You need to download a zip archive from the repository.
Do not unpack the archive with the standard macOS archiver!
Due to the fact that the encoding of Russian characters on Windows differs from the encoding on macOS, unpacking the EasyKitchen archive with the standard macOS archiver will result in unreadable names of some files. Use The Unarchiver. It unpacks all files and saves the original correct file name.
The downloaded archive will contain 3 folders:
- EasyKitchen
- Plugins
- Templates
The EasyKitchen folder can be placed anywhere on your PC. This is a library of modules and components. It will need to be added to SketchUp, through the Components window, as described in the fourth point of this article.
The contents of the Plugins folder must be placed in the SketchUp plugins folder. Specifically, in the one that is located at this address:
~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2024/SketchUp/Plugins
You can use Finder->Go->Go To Folder and paste this address into the dialog box. The tilde (~) in the address is a shortcut to your home folder. This is a different folder than just
/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2024/SketchUp/Plugins
The contents of the Templates folder should be placed in a folder of the same name, at approximately the same address:
~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2024/SketchUp/Templates
Attention!
For the replacement plugin to work, you need to rename all files and folders to Latin. There are many renaming methods. As an option, you can use the "Translit" program. It does mass transliteration from Russian to Latin.
Library installation video
This video contains a detailed description of all stages and types of installation of the EasyKitchen PRO library for designing furniture in SketchUp. And also all the additions to it.
If the video does not open, here is a direct link to the video.